Nov

Vinny Vidi Vici

Watching Jersey Shore can make you feel like a sociologist studying a foreign world of super tan “juiced” fist-pumpers. Professor Diane Vaughn’s Mistake, Misconduct and Disaster class got to observe the subject up close when one of the show’s stars, Vinny, stopped by earlier today (better or worse than Natalie Portman?). Unfortunately he didn’t talk about GTL (Gym Tan Laundry, obvs!!) or “T-shirt time” (choice Vinny quote: “My V-neck is so fresh that it defied the rules of T-shirt time.”) Instead, the celeb guest told the class about his work with an anti-bullying group called Do Something. Back in the pre-Jersey days, he got teased by hot girls.

Believe it or not, UChicago just hosted a conference on Jersey Shore studies, and NYTimes wrote about it for the cover of the Arts section. One speaker titled a slide in her presentation “Bodily Discipline: Foucault + Snooki = BFF.” Another was “The Jersey Saga: Honor Culture in Medieval Iceland and Modern Seaside.” And apparently there’s this thing called “the branded hybrid person- character.”

He tweets:
Just spoke to a class at Columbia University on behalf of @dosomething about #antibullying. Shocked?

Update: A tipster has informed us that the student who invited Vinny was Shoshana Bar-David (BC 12), an intern for Do Something.

It's not him specifically, I guess. It's the fact that he's famous for being on a show where drunken fighting is the norm. And, to that, the thrust of his speech in Vaughan's class was about how we can all set good examples in the world, stop violence before it escalates, and be models for polite society.

He also sprinkled in things like, "DON'T ASK ABOUT ME AND SNOOKY IN BED!"

Also, to be fair to Vinny, he could be wasting his time pretty much any which way he chooses. So, even if it's a bit of a ploy to get more camera time and hash marks, it's kind of a nice thing to *try* to speak out against bullying.

Let me start off by saying it AMAZES me how many people like this comment. Apparently the exact quote (courtesy of TMZ) was, "What gives you, as a cast member of 'Jersey Shore,' the right to interrupt this class and then lecture us on setting a good example?"

So in other words, Vinny is a cast member of Jersey Shore, and cast members of Jersey Shore do not set good examples, therefore Vinny does not set a good example. The argument follows logically from the premises, but does no one other than me find the premises to be problematic/invalid/overstated??

To the TA: Your comment is bitchassness personified. Show some goddamn respect. A guest lecturer isn't "interrupting" your class -- someone invited him to speak, and undoubtedly informed you that he would be there. And if you're really THAT concerned with setting a good example for anyone, you can start off by not being so damn combative.

I'm in the class and no one ever said or implied that Vinny "interrupted" the class or "lecture[d]" the class-- the quote is not accurate, and those words were never used.

The question was more along the lines of, don't you think it is ironic that someone from Jersey Shore is a spokesperson for anti-bullying, and if not, are you trying to change the culture among your fellow cast members, or promoting MTV programming, to set a good example for the kids that watch the show and network?

I only have one question with regards to the rude Columbia student who asked Vinny, "What gives you, as a cast member of ‘Jersey Shore,’ the right to interrupt this class and then lecture us on setting a good example?” How did this student get into Columbia without knowing the definition of interupt? One can not interrupt a class where an invitation was given STUPID.